Longterm monitoring of krill recruitment and abundance indices in the Elephant Island area (Antarctic Peninsula)

Krill distribution and density are reviewed for the Elephant Island area with regard to the representativeness of the study area (60° - 62°30'S and 53° - 57°30 'W) for the recruitment and density indices. Recruitment indices were re-calculated applying the delta distribution approach introduced by de la Mare (1994a). The high interannual variability of krill recruitment is confirmed by the present analysis. Results are compared for one (R1) and two year old (R2) age classes. Statistically significant fluctuations in krill density over the period 1977 to 1994 are also confirmed by this study using randomisation tests on an analysis of variance.